If there is anything miraculous inherent in a college basketball team taking an international tour, it likely exists in a player’s first glance at the Eiffel Tower, or walk through St. Peter’s Basilica or dip in the turquoise waters nestling a white Bahamas beach.

Anecdotally, we perceive that these tours—available to programs only once every four years—might transfigure an ordinary team into a championship contender, or a directionless bunch into Seal Team 6.

Kentucky lost five first-round picks from its 2010 SEC championship team, took a bunch of freshmen and a few vets over the border into Canada and stormed from there all the way to the Final Four.

Michigan bungled its way through the 2009-10 season and was pummeled on a summer trip to Belgium, but the Wolverines improved enough in the process to not only earn an NCAA Tournament spot but to fall just short of the Sweet 16.

Memphis missed March Madness in 2010 for the first time in a half-dozen years, traveled to the Caribbean last summer and eventually claimed the 2011 automatic tournament bid from Conference USA.

This is what we think of when considering the competitive value of international tours. But what impact do they have on a team’s season, really? About two wins.

A random sample of 27 teams that took international tours between 2006 and 2010 shows they won, on average, two more games than in the season preceding the trip. Of those teams, 16 increased their victory totals, eight declined and three remained the same.

Teams that traveled last summer averaged 23.3 wins in the 2010-11 season, compared to 21.1 the season previous.

Teams that took their trips between 2006 and 2009 won an average of 22 games, and up from 20 the year before their tours. Interestingly, in the second year after taking the trip they gained nearly another two wins, to 23.6—leaving open the interpretation that residual benefits of the tours continued into the future.

Of course, two wins can be the difference between ending a season in the Sweet 16 or reaching the Final Four, between celebrating on Selection Sunday or ending up in the CBI. For a head coach, it might mean the difference between keeping his job or working the lobby circuit in search of an assistant’s position.

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin does not hesitate in his assessment of a foreign trip’s value: “I think it’s a huge advantage."

This week, Northern Iowa just returned from Brazil, Mississippi State is playing in the Netherlands, Creighton leaves for the Bahamas and Illinois just finalized the itinerary for next week’s trip to Italy.

Cronin said each of those teams will benefit from the opportunity to conduct 10 days of stress-free practice. Coaches always talk about the benefits of the extra practice, but Cronin explained it’s mostly about getting the opportunity to assess one’s team without being concerned about preparing for games.

Sure, all these teams will play games on these tours but the results are of little concern.

“You don’t have the imminent danger of Game 1 lurking,” Cronin told Sporting News. “So you’re not worried about preparing for that game: ‘We’ve got a game; we’ve got to get our packages all in.’

“When you start practicing on Oct. 14 and you’ve got an exhibition game Nov. 1—and you’ve got to take off days—you’ve got what, two weeks to get ready?”

Cincinnati advanced from a 19-16 season in 2009-10 to 26-9 last year with 11 Big East wins. The team’s September trip to Canada might have played a role in that improvement, but it no doubt helped Cronin make decisions about how the season would develop.

Getting a look at freshman big man Kelvin Gaines and the core of power players already in place made it obvious the Bearcats could afford to redshirt Gaines. Freshman Justin Jackson also made it apparent he would contribute immediately.

Those were fringe benefits of a new rule that began last year for international trips: If freshmen are declared eligible by the NCAA clearinghouse and complete summer school classes, they’re allowed to practice and compete on the trip.

Cronin views preparation for the summer tour as similar to spring practice in football and wishes he could have a similar opportunity every year.

“There’s a lot to be said for just being in the gym with your team,” Cronin said.